Yeast Infection in Ears not Gone - at what point do I become concerned?

[HerculesMomma]

I'm worried about Hercules ears having not cleared up. As soon as I knew he had a problem with his ears we got to the vet (I thought the brownish red discharge was dried blood, so I panicked a bit at that time :p ). We got into whatever person we could see at the vet and I can't say I cared for this lady vet much but.......she said even though the ear smear came back negative for an ear infection, but she was going to treat it as such and had me cleaning his ears twice a day (epiotic) and then putting some drops in. Well, after 5 days of this and it not getting better we were back at the vet. Again, I had to just take who I could get, but this time I got a very good lady who finally diagnosed Hercules parasite (giardia) and his ear problem was a yeast infection. I was so relieved to finally find out what was wrong with him!

So, she recommended cleaning his ears only twice a week (epiotic solution) and we were using otomax twice a day for 10 days. Our 4th trip to the vet (check-up on parasite and ears) we got to see the first Dr. we had seen and we liked very much. She said his ears looked good but to continue on otomax once a day for the next week to make sure it's all gone.

Well, I was doing the otomax once a day, but think I might have missed 1 or two days in the last week. I also didn't clean his ear for a week. Now he's itching it again and is getting a little bald spot on his ear from the scratching. When I did clean his ear after a week, there was some brownish red discharge again. I've (on my own) decided to go back to twice a day with the otomax and ear cleanings twice a week, but at what point do I have to be concerned that his ears aren't clearing up? I don't want my dog to go deaf or to rupture his ear drum! I've only had Hercules for a month (shelter dog) so I don't know if he has had it for a long time or not? I noticed him scratching his ears a few days after I brought him home from the shelter.

I was feeding him beef and rice for the problems with diarehha for the parasite, but he was also getting some kibble and for the last week has been strictly on kibble (California Natural Chicken & Rice). Should I be concerned at this point? He's basically had it for a month now and has been being treated with otomax for 3 weeks now. I have read about the equal parts solution of vinegar, alchol and water for cleaning on this forum. Will that be better than the otomax? Will that cure a yeast infection? Are there any supplements that could help speed his healing process? I've been giving him two tablespoons of low fat plain yogurt for the last week. I'm afraid if we go back to the vet they'll just tell me to continue on the medicine as I have - which for my 5th trip to the vet in the last month that would simply not sit well with me. What do I do?

[Brooke&Ryan]

Originally Posted by HerculesMomma

I have read about the equal parts solution of vinegar, alchol and water for cleaning on this forum. Will that be better than the otomax? Will that cure a yeast infection?

I really don't know what to tell you about the recurring yeast infection in the ears.

We tried the alcohol, vinegar & water combo & Julius' ears which just needed weekly cleanings turned ulcerated & Julius was just miserable. This turned into a yeast infection & it just wasn't good. I would just stick to the Otomax.

Good luck!

:)
Brooke

[Carina43]

Well if you use the vinegar/home solution, DON'T put alcohol in it! But since you're using the stuff from the vet, doing the vinegar thing won't be any better...it's handy for routine cleanings.

The otomax is an antibiotic, isn't it? I know some types of infections (like staph infections) can be extremely stubborn...and Flagyl is typically given for giardia - maybe Hercules needs some oral antibiotics to really knock this thing out of his system. Disclaimer: I am not a veterinary professional, so take what I say with that in mind!

I have a friend in Utica, close to you. If you need a vet recommendation, PM me & I can find out who she uses. She's got Dobies and really really likes her vet.

[MARYDVM]

With severe and chronic yeast infections, I sometimes use an oral anti-fungal medicine such as ketoconazole or fluconazole. Allergies can also be behind chronic ear problems.

[Judy Chrusch]

I strongly suggest getting him allergy tested. I battled ear infections for too long with Czar and after trying everything imaginable I finally said, enough is enough. I was doing this poor dogs ears EVERY single day, twice a day and I was so scared he'd end up with permanent damage bc we had to mess with his ears all the time. He was off and on pred and when I thought they were getting better we'd be right back at the vets again so, save yourself some money and heartache and get him tested OR switch him to California Natural Lamb and Rice. I did that and in 2 days I saw a difference and he stopped rubbing his face along the furniture. After doing Czars ears daily for all that time, we haven't touched them now in over 2 weeks :D, what a relief that is.

Czar was on Innova and was allergic to 5 things in the ingredients so if you can't seem to get his ears cleared up for any amount of time then get him tested and change his food bc you'd be surprised how many dogs are allergic to beef and chicken .

I actually switched Czar's food before the results came back and the California Natural Lamb and Rice was the food they recommended so I was a happy camper. I hope this helps.

Judu

[Troy]

Kamen had this problem, and our solution was two-fold...

One - we changed his diet to Innova from Science Diet (I didn't know better then)

Two - we had the vet flush his ears.

After dealing with creams and ointments and drops, I switched vets and did the two things above and Kamen hasn't had an ear problem in over three years. His ears were only flushed once.

I know allergy testing can be expensive and may or may not isolate all that's going on. I would inquire about an ear flush and see what happens. California Natural is a good food with basic ingredients so I think you're o.k. there.

Good luck.

[samanthac]

Ugh you are SO lucky Judy. I am still battling with Disel and now the new pup, Una, is showing signs of yucky ears. They are both on Otomax and daily ear cleanings for now. This is especially scary with a new pup because it can totally affect ear carriage.

Disel has a full CBC & chem screen. Showed elevated esinophils...allergies. Had the RAST done and it came back completely clean. Not even a blip on the food end. He's on CA Natural L & R, she is on CA Natural C & R. I mean how much cleaner a food can you get than that?

At any rate I have them both on boiled chicken and rice and yogurt for now. Next I am going to switch them to bottled water in case there was a change in the water. Then I guess I am going to have a Northern panel run on them both. The yard is very damp and yucky and perhaps it is environmental.

Its a really depressing and frustrating thing to go through with one dog and even worse with two. :(

[Carina43]

Actually the ear flushing thing might work. I have a friend with a Dobie who gets gunky ears - she uses about a cup of the vet ear cleaning solution cut with 50% water, about a cup per ear. She does this 3-4 times a day for several days & says it works much better than just squishing a little bit in there.
We just had this conversation b/c last week one of Daphne's ears was irritated (I noticed it when she yelped being petted) & gunky. I did what Martha suggested & her ear was fine in a couple of days.

[Anne]

A persistent ear infection, initially yeast and then bacteria as well, lasted for about 3 weeks with my girl.

The vet anaesthetised her and flushed the ears out. This was then followed by antibiotics for about 10 days. Problem solved and she has had no further infections.

The infection in our case was probably caused by the hydrotherapy and water getting in the ears.

[Judy Chrusch]

Been their, done that, it may work it may not. Hercules mom, does your boy have any other symptoms, such as rubbing his face, itchy eyes? You may also want to look at his bedding, detergent you wash them in, it could be so many things but usually when checking for allergies they start with food. I hope you can find the culprit bc having gunky ears will eventually get worse and even infection :( .

Judy

[HerculesMomma]

Hmmmm, the ear flushing might be an option to finally kick the problem since a lot of folks seem to have tried that. It worries me so much that if he had problems with his ears while at the shelter that this may have gone unnoticed for quite some time (he was there for 4 months before I got him) and he's been on treatments for 3 weeks and the wrong treatment for about a week (that one bad diagnoses by the one vet ). I'm not sure if Otomax is an antibiotic - I thought it was an antifungal but I should look it up again before I can say for sure.

I was worried that the medicine they gave him for the Giardia might have caused the yeast infection in his ears. I thought the first series of treatment for the Giardia was a type of antibiotic - metrazine I believe it was called? Then the second treatment was Panacur. That supposedly finally got rid of the parasite, but Panacur was I think an anti protozoa medicine - or so I thought?

I was worried about allergies too - which is why I tried the California natural chicken formula. I initially bought Nutro Max large breed food before I did research on food - he only had that for about 3 days because he went on beef and rice for the parasite. I was worried beef might be a problem - so after the parasite was gone, it was the California Natural which he has been on for two weeks now. Maybe the chicken isn't agreeing with him either? How much does it usually cost for an allergy test?

Uhm, Hercules has no bed Judy - he prefers to sleep in the bathroom on the cold tile floors or on my hard wood floors. I thought his own bedding might be a waste? I haven't noticed him rubbing his face or itchy eyes, but I do notice him licking himself sometimes - but I can't tell if he's just grooming himself or not? It's not incessant licking by any means though - he does it maybe once or twice a day for a few minutes and thats it. I have noticed he has a lot of eye discharge, but I had heard somewhere if dogs are sick they sometimes discharge their "sickness" through their eyes (for a lack of a better way of phrasing it)?

I think I will try and PM you Carina to get your friends vets name. If she lives in Utica then she is just down the road from me basically so her vet can't be too far. I can try to call the vet tommorrow and see what they recommend the next steps should be, but I can't imagine after being on Otomax for 3 weeks that he should still be having any problems, so if that is their reply to this problem then I would like a second opinion. I'm seriously concerned that he may damage his ears from this going on so long.

To boot, the vet never gave me any advice on what might have caused this in the first place. I've just been guessing at some possibilites.....I know potentially food allergies from all of these wonderful people and postings on this forum :D . I know I took him for a bath at petsmart the day after I got him to get rid of the kennel smell and they gave him the "works" and cleaned his ears. I worried maybe they got water in his ears? But I would think petsmart would know better? Then there was the medicine for the parasite - could that have thrown his body out of whack? But we only got the medicine on a Saturday and by the next day I noticed the ear itching. Seems too soon for that to have been the cause.

In addition to my concern for his health, I feel so bad for him that he's just not felt good since I've gotten him :( But as always, the wonderful people on this forum have given me good advice and some new avenues to pursue for him. :) I don't know what I would do without all your wisdon and advice that you've given over the last month! Hercules gives all of you big kisses for your help :D

[RottiMomCT]

A friend of mine had a rottie boy with peristent ear infections, she tried everything - nothing worked to cure it but she kept it at bay with daily ear cleaning and he often slept or sat around with his ears folded up on top of his head to help air get in there (and he looked SILLY!).

She finally moved out of her apartment and his ears cleared up completely within two weeks. We did some comparisons on the new place versus the apartment - hard wood floors with cotton throw rugs in new house; apartment had nylon fiber wall to wall carpeting. She had to kennel him when they went on their honeymoon - kennel folks put an old comforter in his 'room' for him to sleep on, and he had another ear infection when they picked him up - the comforter had nylon filler.

Check out the carpeting (if you have it) and see if that might be irritating his ears. Short of tearing it all up and replacing it, you may have to give it a good vacuuming several times a week and get an air purifier to help get the 'crud' out of the air.

Good luck! I hope his ears are feeling better soon!!

[Knucklesmom]

Poor Knuckles had problems with recurrent yeast infections. Before you go about all the allergy testing, have the vet do a culture. This will make sure you are dealing with yeast, or a bacterial infection. The last time I took Knuckles in with an infection, the vet suggested the culture. Glad we did it! Sometimes there is a bacterial infection underlying the yeast, so the treatment may not be specific enough to kill the bacteria, or sometimes the treatment is not persistant enough. Sure enough, Knuckles was growing some other junk in there. He had a course of antibiotics and ear drops, plus the twice a day cleaning, and - viola! - no more problems! It has been 3 months and he has not shown any signs of ear problems since. Of course, I do clean his ears about two or three times a week. And I am keeping my fingers crossed.

[moonbeam]

I also had problems with 3 of my Rotties and I actually found something that helped them and also helped a friend's Labrador Retrievers. Our one male dog (who has since gone to the Rainbow Bridge) had chronic ear infections. He was constantly on Otomax, etc. and they still didn't improve. A holistic vet I was taking my other Rottie to for cancer treatment gave me a bottle of stuff called McKillips Solution and gave me the instructions to use it. I did, the problem cleared up and I never had to use it on him again. When my friend's Lab had a bad ear problem, I picked up a bottle of the solution at the vet and gave it to her, her dog never had another problem. Years went by and my female had a yeast and bacterial infection so bad in her ears the skin on the inside of her ears turned the color of iodine and then peeled off. The vet had made a special solution up for her and after 2 rounds with it, she still had the problem. I had forgotten about the McKillips until my Lab friend reminded me of it. I got some from the vet and the stuff cleared it right up!!! I have never seen anything work like this. I hunted and hunted until I found the way to make the stuff as my vet charged $40 for a bottle of it. I ordered the powder, bottles, and purchased the oil to mix with it. I made some solution for another friend and it cleared that dog's problem up also. If you want info on the mixture PM me and I'll give it to you. I swear it's the best thing for ears, it's antifungal and antibacterial without supressing the symptoms.

[HerculesMomma]

Well, we went to see the "top Dr." at the vet today for the check up on the ears. He said it would be premature to do an allergy test on Hercules - to wait 2 to 6 months while with me before doing it. He also seemed to indicate that they weren't always reliable for being the root cause of the problem. He said if Hercules displayed other symptoms of allergies and it had been a while then he would consider it. But since I've only had him 6 months, we might be jumping the gun.

He also said that if we didn't know how long his ears had been bad it may simply be that it may take a while before it goes away. He said the longer he has had the infections in his ears, the longer it will take to get rid of it. I was told that I should be flushing his ears (not just cleaning them) like many of you had mentioned, 3 times a week and to still use the otomax 3 times a week. He said this may need to occur for the next two months! And that Hercules may simply be a dog that I have to do this with (flush his ears maybe once or twice a week) for the rest of his life :( Can't say I liked that answer........

He also prescribed Ketaconazole (I think its supposed to be spelled Ketoconazole) which is an antifungal, but I really don't want to give it to him because after getting home and looking on the net, there seems to be a lot of potential side affects.

The good news was the doc said his ears didn't look that bad and his ear drums were still intact! :) So no permanent damage (thank god) to worry about.

By chance has anyone used Ketaconzole with their dogs? Thanks for your help and concern with my post prior to this!!!!